Pharma Blog Watch

Tykerb Approval (Xcovery Blog)
In his post, Tim Gallagher gives his take on this week's approval of GlaxoSmithKline's breast cancer drug Tykerb. "While some have undersold Tykerb as a late-comer to the HER-2+ market that Herceptin already dominates, this approval is important for additional reasons," he writes.

For one, "Tykerb represents the first direct competition between a small molecule (Tykerb) and an antibody (Herceptin)," he points out. "Who wouldn't rather pop a pill versus receive a transfusion?"

In addition, "Tykerb is priced about 10 percent less than Herceptin. We're entering a new phase of the evolution of targeted drugs, where price is a dimension of competition."